You step off the subway train, your dog in tow, and the door closes, separating you from you and your pup.

It happened during rush hour on Tuesday afternoon in Boston, tweeted by rider Krista Magnuson (@kristamm).

What if the train started moving? Does the owner drop the leash? Bang on the door? Do the passengers rush to unleash the dog? (Krista says the passengers were ready to at the first sign of movement).

“This is like a modern-day Rockwell scene,” Jeremy Clowe, at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Mass., tells the Boston Globe. “Just all these elements . . . the composition, the use of color, the detail, the use of cropping of subjects where you only see a part of it — they are all definitely things that Rockwell would have used.”

Clowe broke down every element of the picture, including the one guy who wasn’t watching any of it.

“That’s hilarious. It adds a little bit of a comical touch to it. There’s humor in this little bit of a sensitive scene. I think most people would feel bad about a dog being separated from its owner, so there’s that mixed element of emotions that you see. . . . He’s immersed in his smartphone or book, or whatever he’s looking at. Different characters that are in the scene, but they’re in their own little world, as major action is going on.”

The dog remained calm during the ordeal, unlike its owner and most of the passengers. Because: Dog.

A transit worker had to pry the door open after it wouldn’t open, the dog was freed, the door stuck open, and everyone had to get off the train and wait for another.

About the blogger

Bob Collins has been with Minnesota Public Radio since 1992, emigrating to Minnesota from Massachusetts. He was senior editor of news in the ’90s, ran MPR’s political unit, created the MPR News regional website, invented the popular Select A Candidate, started the two most popular blogs in the history of MPR and every day laments that his Minnesota Fantasy Legislature project never caught on.

NewsCut is a blog featuring observations about the news. It provides a forum for an online discussion and debate about events that might not typically make the front page. NewsCut posts are not news stories but reflections , observations, and debate.